The Pentagon’s struggles to recruit enough volunteers for the armed services is linked to competition for workers across the economy and the obesity epidemic, according to two retired U.S. Army generals from Lancaster County.
Both challenges, they said Monday, are mendable with proper funding for education, nutrition and physical fitness programs.
Lt. Gen. Dennis Benchoff, of Manheim Township, and Brig. Gen. George Schwartz, of Manheim Borough, were in Harrisburg representing Mission: Readiness, an education advocacy group composed of retired military officials.
The organization’s recent report noted the Pennsylvania National Guard and Air National Guard missed their 2023 recruiting goals by about 25% and 45%, respectively. Nationally, the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force had a combined deficit of more than 20,000 recruits in fiscal year 2023.
“The military today is facing a recruiting crisis,” said Benchoff, who served in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division’s 20th Chemical Detachment in Vietnam. “This is a national security issue.”
Both generals pointed to a 2020 Department of Defense report that found 77% of people between the ages of 17 and 24 do not meet the eligibility requirements for the military. Obesity was the leading cause of disqualification, at 11%. However, 44% weren’t eligible because of other conditions, including drug abuse and certain medical conditions.
Steve Doster, Pennsylvania director for the organization, said addressing the obesity crisis requires a “multi-faceted approach,” and that his group supports the universal free breakfast program for all students that was included in this year’s state budget.
Doster said his group also works with policymakers to address food insecurity at the federal level by supporting funding for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Although federal budget negotiations are ongoing, with a deadline approaching on Jan. 19, SNAP allocations were extended through next Sept. in a stopgap funding bill passed last month.
Workforce and education funding
According to the Mission: Readiness report, Pennsylvania’s older population is the fifth-largest in the country, meaning all employers, including the military, are competing for a smaller pool of workers than in many other states.
“Our economy is demanding an all-hands-on-deck workforce to fill existing jobs both in the private and military sectors,” said Schwartz, who served in Germany during the Cold War and did a combat tour in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Schwartz said early education programs, child care funding, and adequate basic education funding are essential to fix the issues.
Doster said those programs include Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts program, the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, and Level-Up, which provides extra money to underfunded public schools.
Level-Up’s $100 million funding was included in a list of spending items that are stalled until the General Assembly passes the needed authorizing legislation, often referred to as “code bills.”
The state’s basic education funding formula was ruled unconstitutional earlier this year. A bipartisan commission, headed by Democratic state Rep. Mike Sturla of Lancaster and Republican state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill of York, has been tasked with finding a more equitable model of funding.
Sturla said the committee members recognize that education spending plays a pivotal role in ensuring Pennsylvanians can serve in the military. Funding education “is for all of our futures,” he said.
State Sen. Ryan Aument, who served as a captain in the U.S. Army and introduced legislation to bolster youth literacy programs in the state, said the shrinking pool of eligible military recruits is turning into a security concern.
“While promoting healthy lifestyles and ensuring high-quality education and care from birth through graduation will help close this gap, I strongly believe that we must work harder to instill the desire to serve in the next generations,” Aument, a Republican from West Hempfield, said in a statement. “Without the willingness to selflessly serve your country and fellow Americans, military recruitment will continue to fall and our mission readiness will continue to suffer.”
Mission: Readiness is a member of the Council for a Strong America, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that boasts 8,000 members in “nearly every Congressional district”, according to its website. Its members advocate for lawmakers to invest in policies supportive of early childhood care, education, after-school programs, nutrition and physical activity.
“All you see about the military on TV are the tanks, the planes, the ships,” Benchoff said. “That’s the picture of our military that’s most prominent. However, the real assets we have are the men and women who man those high-tech pieces of equipment.”
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